Door hold-open device



y 1966 M. M. CHECK DOOR HOLD'OPEN DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 10, L964 gm /o l T mm INVENTOR July 12, 1966 CHECK DOOR HOLDOPEN DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 10, 1964 INVENTOR.

M M CHECK July 12, 1966 M. M. CHECK DOOR HOLD-OPEN DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 10, 1964 INVENTOR MM G/ctk United States Patent 3,260,545 DOOR HOLD-OPEN DEVICE Mathias M. Check, Stir-afford, Pa., assignor to Eaton Yale & Towne Inc., a corporation of Ohio Filed July 10, 1964, Ser. No. 381,807 10 Claims. (Cl. 292-263) This invention relates to door holders of the class utilizing an arm that is connected to the door so as to rotate as the door opens and closes.

More particularly, my invention relates to an extremely novel and ingenious door holder having detent means that will be controlled through bodily movements of a pivoted arm after the arm has rotated to an extended position. The bodily movements of the arm will be effected through pressures applied to the door, placing the detent means in position to hold the door open or to release the door for closing movement, as the case may be.

As a feature of my invention, I utilize a pair of pivoted arms extending between the door and door frame, each arm having a detent portion that moves toward the other detent portion as the arms rotate incidental to opening movement of the door. When the door is in open position, one arm can shift bodily relatively to the other arm, and the shifting movement will cause the detent portions to interlock so as to hold the door open.

As a particular feature, I utilize two detent pins that rotate to a door holding position behind one another, and that rotate further when moving to release position. The rotating movement is effected through combined bodily and pivoted movements of arms on which the pins are mounted, the bodily movement merely taking place when the door is substantially in open position.

The door holder may very well comprise the main arm and forearm of a door closer. The pivot that connects the arms will be so constructed that it can yield, enabling the main arm and forearm to move relatively to each other to control interlocking of the arms. During the opening and closing movements of the door, the pivot will not yield and the main arm and forearm will rotate about a particular axis relatively to each other, thus maintaining the normal relationship that is necessary for the proper operation of the door closer.

I have thus outlined rather broadly the more important features of my invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that my contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of my invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception on which my disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the several purposes of my invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions as do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention, in order to prevent the appropriation of my invention by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the novel door holder of the invention utilized on a door closer.

FIG. 2 shows a section on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1, but on a somewhat larger scale.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of parts of the door holder.

FIG. 4 illustrates the position of the door holder and the door closer when the door is open.

FIG. 5 shows the position of parts of the door holder preparatory to movement to holding position.

FIG. 6 illustrates the movements of the parts toward holding position.

FIG. 7 shows the parts in holding position.

FIG. 8 illustrates a release movement of the parts, as when a forceful closing pressure is applied to the door.

FIG. 9 is a partial view showing a particular form of the detent pins that I use.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 4 of the drawings, the novel door holder of my invention is indicated generally by the numeral 10, and includes a pair of arms 11, 12 that are connected through a pivot 13. In the form which I have chosen to illustrate, the arms 11, 12 comprise the main arm and forearm of a usual type of door closer C that is mounted on a door D, the forearm 12 being connected through a pivot 15't0 a bracket 16 on the door frame F. It will be understood that the main arm 11 is keyed to the closer shaft 17, so as to have door closing torque in the direction shown by the arrow 18 in FIG. 1. Actually, the door closer C is not an essential part of the invention, and it is merely necessary to know that the door holder utilizes a pair of pivot arms 11, 12 so connected as to rotate to an extended position relatively to each other when the door opens, as is indicated in FIG. 4.

In the construction that I prefer, shown in FIG. 2 and in more detail in FIG. 3, I utilize a slide 19 that includes a pair of plates 20 for mounting the pivot 13 on the arm 11. The plates 20 are arranged at the upper and lower surfaces of the arm 11, and have opposed end portions 21, 22 enclosing two longitudinal slots 23, 24 that are formed in arm 11.

The arm pivot 13 comprises a headed screw 25 that engages an opening in the arm 12, and that is threaded into a headed bushing 26 in openings in the end portions 21 of both plates 20. The bushing 26 can rotate in a spacer bushing 27 assembled between the end portions 21 and acting as a sliding bearing in the slot 23, that being the slot which is nearer to the outer end of arm 11. The opposed end portions 22 of the plates are held assembled by screws 28, 29 engaging a spacer bushing 30 that slides in the slot 24. Thereby the slide 19 and pivot 13 are assembled for longitudinal sliding on the arm 11, while connecting the arms 11, 12 for rotation relatively to each other.

In a medial position between the slots 23, 24 the arm 11 is formed with a relatively large rectangular opening 31, perhaps best seen in FIG. 3. Also, each plate 20 has a portion 32 that is pressed outwardly whereby to form a housing for a coil spring 33 that is assembled in the rec- 'tangular opening 31, as shown in FIG. 2. At opposed ends of the outwardly pressed portions 32, the plates 20 have shoulders 34, 35. The shoulder 34 contributes a seat for the rear end of coil spring 33, while shoulder 35 acts as a seat for a slidable cup 36 against which the front end of spring 33 presses.

The cup 36 may in effect seat also against the forward end surface 37 of the rectangular opening 31 in the arm, the cup being equipped with a shock absorbing disc 38 for engaging the end surface 37. The arrangement is such that the slide 19 when moving forwardly, or in other words toward the left as viewed in FIG. 2, will compress the spring 33 toward the cup 36 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 6. When moving in the opposite direction, as in FIG. 8, the slide 19 will merely carry spring 33 and cup 36 bodily and need not compress the spring 33.

A further coil spring 40 of smaller diameter is arranged inside spring 33, and acts between the cup 36 and a lug 41 that projects into the rear end of the opening 31 on arm 11. Thus, the slide 19 when moving rearwardly as in FIG. 8 will compress the spring 40, but need not compress that spring when moving forwardly as in FIG. 6. It will be seen therefore that springs 33 and 40 will press the slide 19 to the position shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, with its shoulder 35 against the cup 36, while also pressing cup 3 36 and its disc 38 against surface 37. In other words, the springs normally will hold the slide 19 and pivot 13 in a particular position on arm 11, but can yield so that the slide and pivot may move from normal position in either direction when the appropriate pressure is applied through the pivot.

Now, referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, I call particular attention to the fact that the outer end portion of the arm 11 is equipped with two pins 42, 43 that are mounted in upwardly projecting position at some distance from the pivot 13. For the moment, we need not consider the pin 43. A further detent pin 44 is screw threaded into an opening in the arm 12 so as to project from the lower surface of that arm. The position of pin 44 is so chosen that pin 44 will move against a front surface of the pin 42 when arms 11, 12 rotate about their pivot 13 to the extended relation shown in FIG. 5, that being the relation of the arms when the door is in an open position substantially.

Thereby the detent pins 42, 44 may act somewhat as a stop for the opening movement of the door. However, when a person applies suflicient pressure to the door in an opening direction, the slide 19 will yield against its spring pressure so as to shift the pivot 13 and arm 12 bodily toward the outer end of arm 11. That shifting movement is illustrated in FIG. 6, in which it will be seen that the pin 44 will pass in a counterclockwise direction around the pin 42. If the door is relieved of pressure, the slide 19 will return to its normal position, as shown in FIG. 7, placing the pin 44 behind pin 42. That in effect will interlock the arms 11, 12 so as to hold them extended, and the arms will then hold the door in open position.

Should a person now apply sufiicient pressure to the door in a closing direction, the slide 19 will yield as shown in FIG. 8, the pivot 13 and arm 12 shifting bodily in an inward direction on to arm 11. Pin 44 will then rotate further counterclockwise to a release position relatively to pin 42, enabling the door to close. Thus, it maybe said that a full holding and releasing cycle of the novel door holder will be effected through rotation of the detent pins 42, 44 about one another, incidental to bodily yielding movements of the arm 12 when forceful pressures are applied to the door.

The outer end portion of the arm 11 is equipped with a stop cam having a knurled knob 46, FIG.2, through which it may be manually rotated to a stop position shown by dotted lines in FIG. 5. In its stop position, cam 45 is juxtaposed to the pin 42 so as to block movement of the pin 44 to position behind pin 42. Alternatively, cam 45 may be rotated away from pin 42 to the full line position. It will thus be seen that the door holding function may be eliminated and restored merely through a rotation of the cam 45, as the user may desire.

It is believed that the operation of the detent pin 43 need not be described in detail, since that pin will merely be effective when the hand of the door holder is reversed, as may be necessary to meet the requirements of a particular installation. With the hand reversed, the direction of rotation between the arms 11, 12 naturally will be reversed, and the' screw detent pin 44 will be removed from its position as shown in FIG. 1, and will be threaded into an opening 47 in the arm 12 in order to coact with the pin 43. The pin 43 then will operate exactly as did the pin 42. It will be seen that the stop cam 45 is so arranged that it may be utilized to block movement of the pin 44 to position behind either pin 42 or 43.

I have conceived making the detent pins movable on the arm 11, in which case the stop cam 45 is not needed in order to cancel the door holding action. Thus, referring to FIG. 9, the arm 11 may be equipped with two pins 142, 143, arranged in the same position as were pins 42, 43 but mounted to slide vertically in openings in the arm. A lower portion of each pin 142, 143 has two peripheral grooves 50, 51 either of which is adapted to engage a wire spring 52 that is mounted through a headed drive pin 53 on the lower surface of arm 11. By engagingthe appropriate grooves the spring 52 will releasably hold each detent pin 142, 143 in either position projecting upwardly from arm 11, that being the position of pin 142 in FIG. 9, or in the inoperative retracted position of pin 143.

When in projecting position, the appropriate detent pin 142 or 143 will coact with screw 'pin 44 to effect holding of the door in the same manner as has been described in connection with the detent pins 42, 43. However, a person may easily slide the particular pin to retracted position so that it will not coact with the screw pin 44, whenever he does not wish to utilize the holding action of the door holder.

It is believed that the construction and operation of the door holder of the present invention will now be understood. Through the novel concept of the invention, it is possible to construct a door holder that will operate extremely well, and that will require a minimum of attention while subjected to heavy duty over a long period of time. The door holder is very well adapted for use as a part of a door closer assembly, and will readily be adapted for either right-hand or left-hand installation. Moreover, the user may easily eliminate and restore the door holding function at any time, as he may wish. It is thought, therefore, that the very considerable value of the invention will be understood, and that the merits of the invention will be fully appreciated by those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. A door holder of the class described having a pair of arms adapted to extend between a door and a door frame, and a pivot through which said arms are connected for rotation relative to each other as the door moves toward open position, means mounting'said pivot on one arm for yielding movement thereon whereby to shift its axis relative to that arm, and detent means on said arms positioned to engage and disengage through shifting of the pivot axis due to opening and closing pressures applied to the door while the door is in an open position.

2. A door holder of the class described including a member adapted to be mounted on a door and a member adapted to be mounted on a door frame, and a pivot through which said members are connected for rotation relative to each other as the door moves toward open position, means mounting said pivot on one arm for yielding movement thereon so that one of said members may move bodily relative to the other member, and detent means on said arms positioned to engage and disengage when said one member moves bodily due to opening and closing pressures applied to the door while the door is in an open position.

3. In a door holder of the class described a pair of arms for attachment between a door and frame, and interconnected by a pivot for rotation about said pivot to an extended relation to each other as the door moves toward open position, a pair of detent portions on said arms juxtaposed to each other through rotation of said arms to extended relation, means whereby the arm pivot yields relative to one arm so that opening and closing pressures applied to the door may effect bodily movements of one arm relatively to the other arm, and said detent portions being positioned so that surfaces thereon move into and out of interlocking relation to each other due to the bodily movements of one arm while the door is in open position.

4. In a door holder of the class described a pair of arms for attachment between a door and frame, and interconnected by a pivot for rotation about said pivot to an extended relation to each other as the door moves toward open position, a pair of pins mounted one in position on each arm to move against a front surface of the pin on the other arm when the arms rotate to extended relation, means mounting said pivot for yielding movement relative to one arm so that opening and closing pressures applied to the door may cause one arm to move bodily relative to the other arm while the door is in an open position, and the bodily movements of said one arm causing one pin to move into and out of a door holding position behind the other pin.

5. In a door holder of the class described having a pair of arms extending between a door and door frame, means interconnecting said arms for rotation and also for yielding bodily movement relative to each other, a pair of detent portions mounted in position on the arms to move toward each other as said arms rotate to an extended relation incidental to opening movement of the door with door holding surfaces on said detent portions interlocked through a bodily movement between the arms while the door is in open position.

6. In a door holder of the class described having a pair of arms extending between a door and door frame, means interconnecting said arms for rotation and also for yielding bodily movement relative to each other, a pair of detent portions mounted in position on the arms to move toward each other as said arms rotate to an extended relation incidental to opening movement of the door, said detent portions adapted to rotate about one another by bodily and rotating movement between the arms while the door is in open position substantially, and surfaces on said detent portions moving into and out of opposed door holding relation to each other by said rotation of the detent portions.

7. In a door holder of the class described having a pair of arms for attachment between a door and frame, and interconnected by a pivot for rotation about said pivot to an extended relation to each other as the door moves toward open position, a pair of detent portions mounted one in position on each arm to move against a front surface of the detent portion on the other arm when the arms rotate to extended relation, yielding means effective to allow bodily movements between said arms whereby to enable the detent portions to rotate about one another, said detent portions rotating to a door holding position with their rear surfaces in contact when said yielding means yield due to pressure applied in door opening direction to the door, and said detent portions further rotating to release positions when the yielding means yield due to door closing pressure.

8. In a door holder of the class described having a pair of arms for attachment between a (1001' and frame, and interconnected by a pivot for rotation about said pivot to an extended relation to each other as the door moves toward open position, a pair of detent portions one in position on each arm to move against a front surface of the other detent portion when the arms rotate to extended relation, yielding means effective While the door is in open position to allow one arm to move bodily relative to the other arm when opening and closing pressures are applied to the door, the bodily movements of said one arm causing one detent portion to move into and out of a door holding position behind the other detent portion,

and means adjustable on one arm for preventing a movement of the detent portions to position behind one another whereby to eliminate the door holding action when that is desired.

.9. In a door holder of the class described having a pair of arms extending between a door and a door frame, a pivot interconnecting the arms and mounted for movement on one of said arms, yielding means pressing said pivot to a particular position on its mounting on said one arm so that the arms rotate about a normal axis to an extended relation to each other as the door moves to an open position, one of said arms being movable bodily relative to the other through yielding of the pivot when the arms are in extended relation, detent portions on said arms being positioned to interlock'to hold said arms in extended position when said arm moves bodily due to an application of pressure in an opening direction to the door, and said detent portions being released relative to each other by bodily movement of said one arm upon an application of a predetermined pressure to the door.

10. In a door holder of the class described having a pair of arms extending between a door and door frame, and a pivot through which said arms are interconnected for rotation to an extended relation to each other as the door moves toward open position, means mounting said pivot for movement in a longitudinal direction relative to one of said arms, spring means acting in opposed directions against the pivot mounting for holding the pivot in a normal position on said one arm as the arms rotate, a pair of pins mounted one in position on each arm to move into contact with a front surface of the other pin when the arms rotate to extended relation, said arms moving to place the pins in a door holding position behind one another through yielding of the spring means in one direction due to door opening pressure applied to the door while the pins are in contact, and said pins moving out of door holding contact when the spring means yield in the opposed direction due to an application of door closing pressure to the door.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 254,324 2/ 18 82 Iglehart 29226 3 X 298,789 5/ 1884 Sigsbee 292-263 1,140,852 5/ 1915 Roeder. 1,851,630 3/1932 Johnson 29-2-4263 2,104,172 1/ 1938 Sibley 292 263 2,903,149 9/ 1959 Turner 1613 8 X 3,093,25 8 6/ 1963 Turner 292-263 X PATRICK A. CLIFFORD, Primary Examiner.

R. E. MOORE, Assistant Examiner. 

5. IN A DOOR HOLDER OF THE CLASS DESCRIBED HAVING A PAIR OF ARMS EXTENDING BETWEEN A DOOR AND DOOR FRAME, MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID ARMS FOR ROTATION AND ALSO FOR YIELDING BODILY MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER, A PAIR OF DETENT PORTIONS MOUNTED IN POSITION ON THE ARMS TO MOVE TOWARDS EACH OTHER AS SAID ARMS ROTATE TO AN EXTENDED RELATION INCIDENTAL TO OPENING MOVEMENT OF THE DOOR WITH DOOR HOLDING SURFACES ON SAID DETENT PORTIONS INTERLOCKED THROUGH A DODILY MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE ARMS WHILE THE DOOR IS OPEN POSITION. 